It is known to provide automotive interiors with various trim assemblies to improve the aesthetic appearance of the automotive interior and for the comfort and convenience of vehicle occupants. Examples of these interior trim assemblies include the instrument panels, armrests, door trim panels and consoles. In many of these trim assemblies, various storage compartments are incorporated therein that allow the vehicle occupant to conveniently store one or more items, such as tissue, coins, maps, pens, paper, and other items typically carried in a vehicle. One such compartment is the open-ended map pocket typically carried in the lower portion of the door trim assembly.
Moreover, in more luxury-oriented vehicles, manufacturers may provide various lighting systems positioned at convenient locations inside the vehicle cabin. The lighting systems are used to illuminate one or more portions of the vehicle interior at strategic times. For instance, a lighting system may be provided with the map pocket so that the various items contained therein may readily be seen during night time conditions or other conditions when the map pocket contents may not be readily observed. In this way, the map pocket contents may be observed and accessed without turning on overhead lighting that may disturb other vehicle occupants or temporarily blind the driver.
While being desired by car owners and vehicle occupants, map pockets incorporating a lighting system have some drawbacks. A primary drawback is in the manufacturing and assembly of the various parts that make up the map pocket lighting system. For example, conventional lighting systems include a separate light assembly installed on the door trim panel above the map pocket compartment. In this way, the light assembly emits light that illuminates the interior of the map pocket. The light assembly typically includes multiple parts such as an incandescent light bulb, a bulb mounting structure, a light cover, light reflectors and heat stake bosses to manage the heat generated by the incandescent bulb. The light assembly may further include contact switches so that the light bulb can be selectively activated such as when the headlights are on or the inside dome light is turned on.
Thus, under current manufacturing processes, map pockets having a lighting system provided therewith comprise numerous parts each having different part numbers that must all be appropriately supplied, tracked, shipped, inventoried and eventually assembled to make the complete product. Multiple part assemblies in turn lead to significant administrative costs and labor costs, which increase the overall costs of production.
There is a need for an improved automotive map pocket having a lighting system and a method for making the same that reduces the number of parts and reduces the labor required for assembly thereof, thereby reducing overall manufacturing costs.